Robert obtained his Master’s degree from the University of British Columbia with a specialization in timber connections, under the supervision of Professor Borg Madsen, inventor of the now widely used timber rivet.  Robert then acquired his Masters of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.  
 
He started his professional career with the Vancouver based firm of J. Novacek and Associates, the first truly innovative firm in the field of timber engineering in Canada. In 1998 Robert co-founded the Vancouver design firm of Equilibrium Consulting Inc., the next generation of timber engineering. Robert has pioneered the use of proven, state-of-the-art timber technologies in BC and helped raise the local industry’s awareness and sophistication through the execution of a string of innovative and architecturally notable timber structures.  Robert has since contributed to over 500 projects, several of which have received awards.
 
Robert is known for his creative approach, cost effective designs and commitment to the development of architecturally integrated detailing.  Robert has a broad field of expertise and successful experience, including renovation work, upgrades and new construction, on projects with very limited budgets as well as high profile architecturally oriented public projects, large and small.

He is a recognized expert in the field of timber engineering. Robert has untaken numerous technical presentations at conferences and universities including the College of New Caledonia and the University of British Columbia. Robert is also a regular nationwide lecturer for the Canadian Wood Council Woodworks! Program, and a member of the Canadian Timber Code Technical Committee (Engineering Design in Wood: O86.1). 

Currently a typical structural design does not directly address the post disaster serviceability issues of timber buildings. Drift limits for wind and seismic design are the only requirements that address excessive deformations together with deflection limits on bending members. The National Building Code of Canada identifies protection of life as the primary objective during a strong seismic event, followed by limiting building damage after a moderate strength earthquake.  Only buildings which are designated as post-disaster are required to remain functional with minimal damage following a strong ground shaking.  The resulting impact of these requirements on the structural engineering design practice is that a typical engineer does not address any additional post disaster serviceability issues unless it is specifically requested by the owner, as in the case of post disaster buildings.
The latest timber design code, still not referenced by provincial codes, introduces the procedure of capacity design to timber structures.  Shear walls are identified as the desired energy dissipation elements, while diaphragms are designed for larger seismic forces followed by the drag struts and connectors that are to withstand an even higher level of force.  This is the first step in identifying and properly detailing elements of sufficient stiffness that can provide inelastic energy dissipation. 
Most structural engineers design their buildings intuitively to have enough ductility so the structure can deform in-elastically under seismic load with limited loss in strength.  This can only be achieved by careful detailing of selected energy dissipating elements, which are designed as per capacity design principles that are currently being introduced in timber design codes. The currently used force-based system of seismic design assumes that different elements can be forced to yield at the same time which rarely happens in real buildings.  Additionally, present building codes do not specify requirements to limit the damage resulting from yielding of energy dissipation elements.
Recently new design methods have been developed to address these issues. As a displacement capacity is more important in seismic behavior than strength of the elements, these new methods start with deformation instead of the force. The structures are designed so they can reach the specified deflection levels under design earthquake, rather than for a seismic lateral force that results in a deformation level that is to be less than a code limit. One of the new methods: Direct Displacement-Based Design (DDBD) is becoming the most popular because of its simplicity, wide applicability and ease of incorporation in to design codes.
Timber structures can only achieve a ductile response if the connections can behave in-elastically. Therefore, the first types of timber buildings that are being designed by DDBD method use plywood and wood framing shear walls, ductile moment resisting frames and post tensioned multi story systems. As always in timber engineering the ductility of connection systems remains the key for a successful performance of the whole system.

Professor Blass has pioneered the application of self-tapping screws in timber constructions, promoting the manufacturing of very large screw dimensions and developing and introducing these connections for high load applications. This work has led to much simplified methods for repairing damaged beams and reinforcing new ones.

The development and introduction of efficient connections which are easy to install make it possible to construct large timber structures and save timber material while offering attractive logistic solutions by use of prefabricated elements.

The developments made by Prof. Blass have been of importance for the increased use of larger wood based construction elements like glulam, which in Europe has increased in use by more than four times since the mid 1990s. They have also contributed to the significant increase in the timber frame market share of new housing, which e.g. in UK has more than doubled over the last decade.